


Empathy on the Kitchen Floor

by PussNHikingBoots



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Codependency, Empathy, M/M, Refrigerator doors left open, Season 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-29
Updated: 2015-07-29
Packaged: 2018-04-11 21:59:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4453922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PussNHikingBoots/pseuds/PussNHikingBoots
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Context:<br/>Will has just been released from prison. He shows up at Hannibal's house to shoot him.<br/>Much empathy ensues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Empathy on the Kitchen Floor

**Author's Note:**

> I do not use beta, so please send any errors/corrections you may find to: pussnhikingboots@gmail.com  
> I LOVE comments! (don't we all...)

“I'm going nowhere.  
Somebody help me."  
-The Bee Gees

 

Hannibal could smell when Will entered his kitchen; distasteful cologne a dead giveaway. So it was no surprise when he turned from contemplating the contents of his refrigerator to find Will holding a gun up to his head. Will's hand was shaking badly, and though Hannibal doubted that he had the nerve to pull the trigger, he suspected that the shaking alone might pull it for him. He did not wish to miss out on the rest of his life now that Will was a part of it, so he made a lightening grab for Will's wrist and relocated the gun's barrel to point at the ceiling. The gun went off, startling Will. Hannibal was right. Will had never meant to pull the trigger. Will's eyes widened in fear as the gun clattered to the floor. He was now defenseless inside the predator's lair. He bolted for the door, but Hannibal was quicker. He threw his body against Will and they fell down in a heap, Will thrashing in a desperate effort to save his own life, and Hannibal clinging to him with as much desperation to keep him from leaving.

"Will! I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to hurt you." Hannibal tried, but Will could not hear him. He scrambled on his belly across the hard tile towards the entrance, dragging Hannibal with him. He made it as far as one of the cabinets and reached for the countertop to haul himself to his feet. Hannibal grabbed Will's torso and flipped him around with a powerful heave. When they bumped back onto the floor, Hannibal was propped with his back against the cabinets, and he was holding Will to his chest in an ironclad embrace, his legs wrapped around Will's to prevent him from moving, cheek pressed to cheek. Not since Hannibal was a little boy had he held on to anybody so tightly. 

"Shhhh…stop struggling, I'm not going hurt you, Will." Hannibal kept up this litany until, slowly, the words settled into Will's overwrought brain. He was still breathing in heavy gasps, but he stopped fighting, staring ahead at the refrigerator door, still wide open.

"I just tried to kill you."

"And I have already forgiven you for that," answered Hannibal, choosing not to divulge that he knew Will would not have tried very hard.

"You're not going to kill me?" 

Hannibal closed his eyes in response and rubbed his smooth cheek against Will's unshaven one. Usually, Will had to make a conscious decision to tap into his gift of empathy, but now it clicked on without his consent, illuminating the inside of his brain. He thought about the refrigerator door opening to light the contents within. The silly things one thinks about when they are restrained on the kitchen floor by a cannibal psychiatrist with the culinary skills of a master chef. A rush of emotion shot from Hannibal to Will with dizzying impact. Will found himself gasping at the force of it. Love? Possession? There wasn't any one word to describe the extent of it. Hannibal felt like a man dying of thirst and Will felt like water. 

Will went weak under this mental invasion and relaxed into Hannibal's embrace, leaning back into his chest and allowing his head to fall back against his shoulder. The intensity of the feeling started to wane, replaced by a warm, giddiness that made him tingle. Hannibal continued to slowly rub his cheek against Will's, arms still wrapped tightly around Will's chest, breathing audibly through his mouth. He tilted his head until his lips were nestled into the crook of Will's neck and murmured, "Will. Will." He kissed Will with his own name, lips pursing around the 'W' to land on Will's carotid artery and then pulling away by a fraction. 

Will trembled under Hannibal's touch, gentle waves of emotion still traveling through his body. He closed his eyes, losing himself in the worshipping that enveloped him. He could easily let himself sink into this feeling. Forgive Hannibal all his past sins. Forgive him all of the killings, the manipulations. Forgive everything and just – become his. Hannibal nuzzled at Will's ear, mumbling against his skin, "My beautiful boy." Will's body stilled with a dawning realization that gripped him in a panic. He closed his eyes for a moment trying to understand what he was feeling. Finally, he spoke slowly, careful with his words. "I'm out of prison now but I'm not really free, am I? You're never going to let me go."

"I don't intend to lock you away, Will," said Hannibal, voice raspy and soft, "You can do as you please – have your job, your home, your dogs, go fishing when you want. I want all of those things for you. You are most beautiful when you're in your element."

"None of those things are threatening to you. But what about other people? Friends? Not that I have any..."

"I am your friend, Will. Jack is your friend. Alana. I've never objected to this."

"As long as things remain as they are. But tell me, Hannibal, what happens the first time I get a girlfriend?" 

"You can have girlfriends, if you want. I won't stop you." 

"Girlfriends maybe, but what if I fall in love? Get married? What if I want to have children?" 

Hannibal's grip became icy. His lips formed a thin line and he pressed his cheek harder against Will's, eyes floating open to stare straight ahead. Will could feel his reaction though he hadn't said a word. "A family of mine would never be safe from you, Hannibal. It's a lose-lose situation. You will let me walk around in the world, seemingly free, but as soon as I want to share an intimate relationship with somebody that's not you, I will be putting that person in jeopardy."

"Will, please." Hannibal was not used to begging for anything. Will trembled, his mind a cotton ball, heavy with absorbed water; his soul being ripped into two people. One part his own, with the need to go about his life unencumbered by anybody else's thoughts, and the other weighed down by what was emanating from Hannibal. 

Hannibal knew that Will was right. He wished to appease Will's fears about a family, but at the mere thought of it, he could feel pangs of jealousy and anger roiling in his stomach. He took three heartbeats to dial the feeling down to almost nothing before he spoke. "You won't need any of that, Will. I could be everything you need. Your friend. Your lover. You won't want for anything. I can be whatever you need, Will."

Will closed his eyes and let soft tears slide down his face. Yes, Hannibal could be all of that to him, but what would he have to give up for that? The more disturbing thought was: what would he have to _become_ for that?

Will raised a hand to hook his fingers lightly over Hannibal's arm. "I can't – I cant be what you want me to be."

"You already are."

"No. You want my…potential, and for that I would need to become more like... You."

Hannibal was silent but squeezed him tighter. "Would you deny your true nature?”

“It's only a part of my nature. A part that should not be embraced." 

Hannibal tilted his head to whisper into the shell of Will's ear, “Can you imagine what it would be like to let yourself indulge?”

Will closed his eyes. The horrible thing was, he _could_ imagine. He remembered what it felt like to kill Garrett Jacob Hobbs. He wanted to feel that again. He almost _needed_ to feel that again. He shuddered against his own thoughts. A sudden taste of blood in his mouth carried with it a surge of elation. Being wrapped in Hannibal's aura was detrimental to his ability to think straight. He was feeling claustrophobic. He had to get away. “I want to go home, Hannibal. Let me up.” He made a motion to rise, but knew he could not be set free of his own accord. He waited.

Hannibal stayed still and silent for a long moment, committing the feel of Will's body in his arms to his memory palace. That complete, he smoothed over any remaining jagged edges of emotion and tucked his burning desire away in the back of his heart to be revisited another time. Opening his arms to let Will go was the hardest thing Hannibal had done in a long, long time.


End file.
